Latch eye for excavators&#39; shovels

ABSTRACT

A latch eye for an excavators shovel is described that has decreased weight and longer durability. The latch eye includes a core and a shield coat formed of a replacement kit made up of several parts. The parts of the replacement kit are fixed to the core.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to the earth movement equipment field and, it specifically refers to a latch eye used in excavators' shovels.

PRIOR ART

The function of the latch of excavators' shovels is to lock the bucket prior to loading in order to prevent the load from falling outside once the material has entered it and to keep it secured while the excavator moves to the dumping location. Upon unloading, the shovel opens to allow the material to exit at the dumping area, activating the latch. It may then be deduce from the above that these elements opens and closes a number of times during the period of loading and unloading the bucket of an excavator, reason by which its wear will demand repair after a certain number of working hours. This involves hours of equipment maintenance and stoppage.

Currently, latches are cast and made of a single piece, reason by which wear spots must be weld disassembled and filled and reassembled once repaired.

It is a requirement that the latch may be secured inside a hole wherein it will lock. To this effect, a so-called latch eye is used, piece that, unlike the latch that is mounted on a hinged door that is located on one side of the bucket, this latch eye is located in an area that is fixed to the bucket's structure, preferably to the floor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The proposed rolled latch eye has been developed with a combination of steels meeting the world's highest quality standards in order to guarantee its operation in extreme conditions, achieving:

-   -   A customized design to each work, by compiling on-site         information and validated with engineering software (finite         element analysis and other).     -   A replaceable shield kit, not requiring change of the eye upon         wear.     -   Optimized design allowing to increase performance, using         high-resistance steels.     -   The shield is designed to minimize weight and to protect the         component's structure.     -   Manufactured under AWS D14.3 Standard and strict quality         control.     -   The benefits of this latch eye are longer useful life and easy         replacement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the location of the latch eye on the shovel of the excavator.

FIG. 2 shows a latch eye, its core and pieces of the replacement kit.

FIG. 3 shows the location of the latch, eye and its actuating mechanism on the shovel of the excavator.

FIG. 4 shows the cast latch eye (prior art).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a rolled and tempered (latch eye (2) that is part of a latch assembly (1) and latch eye (2), wherein the latch (1) is located on the hinged door (3) of the excavator's shovel and which is operated by a mechanism (4) that raises or lowers the latch (1) causing said latch (1) to enter or exit the latch eye (2) located on the floor (9) of the excavator's shovel. The proposed latch eye (1) has a shield coat made up of a replacement kit (8) which hardness fluctuates between 400 and 540 HB an a core (7) that is made of high-toughness steel having a 260 to 360 HB hardness, which guarantees a longer useful life and identical mechanical resistance. The steels used met high quality standards in each one of its manufacturing processes. The proposed latch eye (2) comprises several outer exchangeable parts that make up the replacement kit (8) and the core (7) where the parts of said replacement kit (7) are installed (7). The shield kit is fixed by arc welding. 

What is claimed:
 1. A Latch eye for excavators that decreases its weight and provides longer durability, comprising two main parts: A core; a shield coat comprised of a replacement kit made up of several parts; the parts of the replacement kit are fixed to the core; the steels comprising it are quenched and tempered.
 2. The latch eye for excavators according to claim 1, wherein the core is made of high-toughness, 400 to 540 HB hardness steel.
 3. The latch eye for excavators according to claim 1, wherein the shield coat is made of steel having surface hardness between 400 and 540 HB.
 4. The latch eye for excavators according to claim 1, wherein the parts of the replacement kit are fixed to the core by arc welding. 